Translation and adaptation of Theory of Mind tasks into Brazilian portuguese

Abstract

Background: Theory of mind (ToM) is a field of social cognition that deals with the individual's cognitive ability to interpret or infer the mental states of others based on previous knowledge. Recently, research has shown that this ability is compromised in patients with some psychopathologies, e.g., schizophrenia and autistic disorder. Investigators have also shown that deficits in ToM have impacts on social functioning and, consequently, on quality of life. Even though ToM studies have recently grown in number, some problems still remain (e.g., the difficulty of standardized tools to assess ToM in different languages).

Objectives: To describe the translation and adaptation into Brazilian Portuguese of two of the most important and widely used ToM tasks, namely, the Theory of Mind Stories and the Hinting Task.

Method: The process included the following steps: 1) translation; 2) production of a single translated version and review by specialists; 3) back-translation into English; 4) review by an English-speaking specialist; 5) adaptation of marked corrections; and 6) pilot application in a group representative of the target population (people with schizophrenia).

Results: A final translated version was obtained for each of the tasks. Both instruments were well understood by participants and can now be used in the Brazilian experimental setting.

Conclusion: The availability of two major ToM tasks in Brazilian Portuguese facilitates the conduction of research on the topic in Brazil. In the future, this could help design clinical interventions aimed at people with social and cognitive difficulties.